A Sailing Yacht is a ship prefix used to identify a vessel that is privately owned and uses sails as its primary means of propulsion.The category of classes sailing yacht is among those officially recognized by the ISF.

The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning “hunt”. It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters.

Whereas most sailing yachts above a certain size will usually have an inboard engine, they will not be “motorsailers”, as their principal source of power is sail, and the engine is only for auxiliary drive.